ST. LOUIS — Kodai Senga’s relaunch was a hit, but the same couldn’t be said of the Mets lineup on Tuesday.
In this version of Arch Madness, the Mets managed only three hits in a 3-0 loss to the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The series rubber game is scheduled for Wednesday.
The Mets placed only four runners in scoring position and Juan Soto’s sixth inning double accounted for the team’s only extra-base hit.
Bo Bichette, who heard boos Sunday at Citi Field, finished 0-for-3, dropping his batting average after five games to .091.
But at least there was Senga, a key piece of the rotation on whom the Mets are counting following his late-season nosedive last year.
This sure resembled the pitcher the Mets saw for most of last season’s first half and in 2023 when he was a National League All-Star selection.
On this night, he gave the Mets six innings in which he allowed two earned runs on four hits and three walks with nine strikeouts. He punctuated the 92-pitch outing by striking out the side in his final inning.
The start was Senga’s first since last Aug. 31 — after which he accepted a demotion to the minor leagues and finished his season with Triple-A Syracuse.
The Mets saw signs of a Senga resurgence in spring training, and many carried into this start.
Among them was Senga’s velocity: he peaked at 99 mph with his four-seam fastball and averaged 97.4 mph with the pitch. It was a jump of 2.7 mph from last season.
Senga recorded 16 swings and misses, seven of which were on his four-seam fastball. His forkball was used as a strikeout pitch three times. The other six strikeouts he produced were on fastballs.
Senga struck out the side in the second, but the Cardinals jumped on him with three straight hard-hit balls in the third that produced two runs.
Victor Scott II launched a leadoff double beyond Luis Robert Jr.’s outstretched glove in left-center to start the rally. JJ Wetherholt delivered an RBI single and Ivan Herrera hammered a double, extending the Cardinals’ lead to 2-0. But Senga retired the next three batters to keep Herrera, who got as far as third base, stranded.
Senga retired eight straight batters before walking Herrera with two outs in the fifth. Alec Burleson followed with a walk, prompting a mound visit from pitching coach Justin Willard. The right-hander responded by retiring Masyn Winn to end the threat.
Soto doubled leading off the sixth against Andre Pallante and Bo Bichette walked. But the rally died facing reliever Gordon Graceffo, who retired Robert before Jared Young hit a line drive to shortstop and Bichette was late retreating to first base and doubled up to end the inning.
Marcus Semien walked against former Mets reliever Ryne Stanek in the seventh, but after Carson Benge struck out pinch-hitter Francisco Alvarez was retired on a long fly to right-center.
Richard Lovelady needed only two pitches in the seventh to sink the Mets further in the hole: Ramon Urias blasted a homer leading off the inning to extend the Cardinals’ lead to 3-0.
The lefty Lovelady, who was used for the third time in four games — he was the losing pitcher in the 10th inning on Sunday against the Pirates — returned to the mound and worked a scoreless eighth.